How about a passthrough device? Like a gameshark/action replay? That would work fine.
Sure, it wont look as cool, but it wouldnt need any modifications.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
SNES Game Collecting (Tips, discussion, and info for like minded collectors)
- Thread starter DidntKnowJack
- Start date
How about a passthrough device? Like a gameshark/action replay? That would work fine.
Sure, it wont look as cool, but it wouldnt need any modifications.
retrogamer84
Member
That is what I am doing. I have an pro action replay mk2 and mk3, they work just grand with my new SFC.
digita1alchemy
Member
Would I need the "composite video" or "composite sync" option to use this cable with an RGB modded SNS-101 (and an N64)? Sorry if this is better served for the PVM/RGB thread.
PumpkinSpice
Banned
Yeah I wanted to get something like this at first:
But a) it was pricey, as this is and b) the only ones I could find at the time were intended to allow PAL consoles to play US games and I wasn't confident it would work US to JPN (probably it would).
Honestly in the end it was probably a mistake to cut it. I only have a few US SNES games and they're all duplicates of JPN games I have that are easily playable in Japanese.
I don't think its that they are underrated, its just that most sellers ask an insane amount for what amounts to very little work on their part. I'm not against repros or selling them, but I want to puke whenever I see someone selling carts like "Earthbound Uncut" for $100.00. I think a reasonable amount for any repro is $35-45.
The real work was done by the translators anyway.
And before anyone asks, yes I have made my own repros before. It's doesn't take much time or effort and has become EXTREMELY easy over the last year with products like the kazzo.
How hard is it to make your own repo? Could you point out a good guide? As I get further into retrogaming and modding I keep wanting to try new things.
It's not for beginners, really.
You can use sites such as buyicnow to get custom roms flashed, and it doesn't cost much at all (matter of pennies really). The tricky bit is finding a compatible cartridge (if its not got expansion chip requirements, cheap sports titles do the trick) and then desoldering the old ROM, and soldering the new one on. It's pretty fine point work.
just practice, really. bear in mind not all rom chips are straight swaps - with a few, you need to mount them onto a separate board or solder using wires. thats when it gets fucking awkward
Thanks, something I'll keep in mind then for the future, just starting to get into soldering so I'll leave this on the back burner for now.
Traditionally its takes soldering experience, ic programming, and a donor cart. Now you can just order a homemade cart and cart writer from this guy.
http://www.infiniteneslives.com/aux3.php
I recommend this over any other method because no carts get harmed in the process and its extremely easy. The hardest thing
you will have to do is maybe pad a rom file or remove a header.
Go composite video to be safe as some SNES revisions can't accept composite sync(most do though). For N64 you definitely want composite video.
You'd want Composite Video. That will work with both, provided both are connected correctly inside. You need to connect a separate line if you want to do composite sync.
Frankly I'm not sure of the benefits. I connected the line in my SNES and use Composite Sync on that system, but that cable doesn't work on my N64 which I have not connected that line on.
Yeah I wanted to get something like this at first:
But a) it was pricey, as this is and b) the only ones I could find at the time were intended to allow PAL consoles to play US games and I wasn't confident it would work US to JPN (probably it would).
Honestly in the end it was probably a mistake to cut it. I only have a few US SNES games and they're all duplicates of JPN games I have that are easily playable in Japanese.
That kind of adapter would work to let you play any region on any region. The only lockout on the SNES is physical shape. USA carts are too fat, and JPN/Euro systems are too tight for them to fit. Skinny JPN/Euro carts could fit in baggy USA systems, but NOA added small tabs to specifically block them.
The adapter is the same slim shape as the JPN/Euro carts, and it slips past the lockout tabs, so it should fit in anything. The pins are just a passthrough extension. And then the top opening is roomy and makes no attempt to block anything. It looks nice inside your SNES/SFC.
Unfortunately, it also lifts your carts up high and makes no attempt to support them. Picture for a moment, taking one of your favorite games and setting it up on your coffee table, letting go, and watching it fall over backward or forward. Now picture, the only thing stopping that is a bunch of tiny little hands that are grabbing your cart by it's PCB. If the hands break, or the PCB breaks, the cart falls over. Okay, that probably won't happen, but it feels unsettling just looking at it. I buried mine in the closet several hours after I bought it.
The easiest region-free mod is breaking the tabs out of an American SNES. Modding an SFC or Euro SNES is harder, and usually not pretty.
Sorta Maximus
Member
My problem comparing SNES controllers is the time between using them. I owned the SNES many many years ago. The Club Nintendo Wii SNES controller I bought and sold was several years ago. But to my memory, this new old stock SNES controller feels more like what I remember the originals did. And while I don't think age has changed the feel of the new old stock controller that much, if at all, it is a concern I had not thought of previously. And there is the question of if my memory be trusted after all those years. In any case I've read others noting the same thing around the internet about the feel of the Club Nintendo Wii SNES controllers before.
PAL games and consoles actually have a different lockout chip. You can not play PAL games in a SFC or a US console with the tabs removed, or NTSC games on a PAL console, without region modding. So these adapters that are made for PAL consoles might actually not work with NTSC consoles since they have the PAL lockout chip.
I could try my PAL adapters in my Super Famicom, but it has been modded with the SuperCIC chip so I dunno if it would be a good test.
Edit: Wait, now that I think about it. These adapters doesn't actually have any lockout chips, but use another cart in the back for that. So in theory they should work fine on an NTSC console provided you use an NTSC game in the back. And to play US carts on a SFC you probably wouldn't even need a cart in the back since it's the same lockout chip in both regions.
TheMoon
Member
To add to your magnificent description with an illustration, here is a picture of a similar adapter (the glorious Fire Adapter) forming the SNES Ultrazord:
Seriously? I was looking for something like this last year (I had a Super Famicom and not a SNES) and had no luck at all finding one. Of course it pops up now after I bought a SNES lol
Super Famicom and the PAL SNES are some sexy machines.
PassiveObserver
Member
Thank goodness I picked this up(Rushing Beat Shura) before it becomes even less common and it sounds better than the butchered The Peace Keepers.
The Peacekeeper was pretty dope when I played it as a kid, but I always found the relative (complete?) lack of music eerie. It had a different feel than most other beat-em-ups.
D.Lo
Member
You can't buy them on eBay because ebay bans region converting devices, because some (eg mod chips) enable piracy.
I have one I tried to sell, ebay delisted it and blocked my account for a while! Despite it not allowing piracy and being for a 25 year old machine.
You could have also looked for an Action Replay. Even though they are PAL they work fine on NTSC systems. They have cart slots on top and on the back for playing games from other regions.
It was odd how the music was off by default(has to be turned on) and the fact it's missing music from Rushing Beat Shura which is a shame because Shura has some really good music in it.
PassiveObserver
Member
Back when I played it, I never turned on the music. Didn't even know the option was there. Mind blown somewhat.
Eh eh english language PAL Soul Blazer is maddenly expensive.
Square2015
Member
I bought from GR.com however I don't recommend them. I had to return them twice due to not working and /or dead batteries plus the wait to even get them the first time was insane.
I'm currently checking out Lost Classics.com, ocdreproductions.com, super-reproductions.com, and retrostage.net.
I just bought DQIII Remix from super-reproductions.com, so I'll let you guys know about it when that comes in.
Sorta Maximus
Member
My second SNES controller came in. Silver screws instead of gold, silk screened L and R buttons this time in addition to the subtle letter indentations, same made in Japan stamp, same great quality feeling. Otherwise very identical in looks and feel. It helps to have another to compare it to. Looks like I scored two real controllers. Strange differences in minor details, but I suppose normal over years and years of production. I've found real DS carts to be different to each other in small small ways for example.
Jonneh3003
Banned
Just ordered my third SNES (NTSC this time, already have PAL and NTSC-J) and i'm just wondering if the AC adapter from my PAL SNES will work or will i need a new one?
AFAIK, no. The JP one is the right type but the end is different. You don't want to plug the PAL adapter (AC) into a US (DC) SNES.
Agreed. $45 is reasonable. But for some games which require very specific donor carts (eg Starfox 2) I think it's okay to charge a bit higher.
But yea, $100 is wrong for a typical repro.
EatinOlives
Member
Picked up F-Zero and Daffy Duck: Marvin Missions for $10 total, including shipping. Carts only, but both in pretty damn good condition.
Doing bids on eBay instead of defaulting to Buy It Now is paying off
Doing bids on eBay instead of defaulting to Buy It Now is paying off
Sorta Maximus
Member
I'd love it if Nintendo would release a portable SNES with full resolution. Or port more games to the 3DS at full resolution.
D.Lo
Member
It will actually work (it might not fit perfectly) but is VERY bad for the super fami.
Famicom and Super Famicom use DC power.
NES and SNES use AC power. They have a rectifier inside that changes the AC to DC.
Now, the Super Fami doesn't have the rectifier, but has a voltage regulator that appears to perform the function somehow. I'm a little hazy on it though, was years ago I looked at it. So the AC power will work but will slowly damage the system.
The original Famicom will be immediately fried if a US NES or SNES power is connected to it.
Now a DC 9-10V power source (Mega Drive/Genesis 1 power is perfect) will power all these consoles. The NES/SNES rectifier is just made redundant as the console is being fed the correct DC power anyway.
I think they're asking how to power an American SNES though? That's how I read it.
Sorta Maximus
Member
I think I may sell these two new SNES controllers... the Wii U Pro pad is growing on me for Wii VC.
D.Lo
Member
true, but sounds like he's using it on the Super Fami?
A Black Falcon
Member
No, only the NES power brick outputs AC. The SNES one outputs DC, just like everything else that isn't the NES. You're confusing the NES and SNES.
However, the US SNES does use a special plug type on the system, the plug from the AC adapter that you plug into the console; it's this slightly odd round plug, with a pin in the system that it connects to. You need a US SNES power supply because nothing else has that plug type, as far as I know. Well... nothing other than US Virtual Boy AC adapter taps, of course, because first-party VB AC adapters use SNES power supplies. Japanese VB AC adapter taps use Japanese SFC power supplies, so they'll work with a bunch of things since that uses a common plug type, but the US one uses that unique US SNES plug, to go with the US SNES power supply. But it's definitely DC, not AC!
As I detail above, unless you can find some kind of plug adapter, you'll need a US SNES power supply.
D.Lo
Member
incorrect.
The PAL SNES adaptor (specified by Jonneh3003) is AC, just like the NES.
I did make a small error though, a Famicom will be fried if a US NES adapter or PAL SNES or NES adaptor is used. Not US SNES.
A Black Falcon
Member
I was talking about the US SNES. I'd forgotten that the PAL SNES power supply is AC, though... how odd, when the US and Japanese ones are DC!
Also, I don't know how you'd plug that US SNES power supply in to a Japanese or European SNES or any kind of NES, considering the unique plug they used on the US system that I was talking about. Remember, it's a different-looking plug from any other console power plug I can think of.
Huh, interesting. It makes sense that someone would make such an adapter, even if it is homebrew-only...
D.Lo
Member
Yeah I wasn't talking about using a US power supply apart from an aside, which was my error.
Nintendo likely made the US SNES plug that way to prevent the AC NES plug from being used. Then for PAL they were like 'screw it let's just put a rectifier in the console instead of the power supply and it will be safe at all times'.
As far as I can remember a Mega Drive 1 PSU will power:
Famicom
US NES
PAL NES
Super Famicom
PAL SNES
Mega Drive 1 (any region)
Master System (any model any region)
Mega CD (any model any region)
Leaving just the Mega Drive 2 and SNES with their own weird plugs! Though it will even power them with a plug shape changer/adapter.
A Black Falcon
Member
The original question was about whether you could use a PAL SNES power supply on the US SNES, though. And the answer is that you can't, both because the plug won't fit and because as you say the PAL SNES power supply is AC. (And don't use that PAL SNES power supply on a Japanese SNES either, of course! Japanese ones require DC, as do everything other than the Western NES and EU SNES...)
That would make sense, yeah.
The Atari Jaguar uses that same plug type as well, I'm pretty sure. At least the US one does, and I imagine the others are the same.
Didn't they change the power rating for the Genesis 2, which is why it uses a different plug? I know systems can accept different power levels to some degree -- most of those systems use slightly different power ratings, such as that Master System power supplies provide a lot less power than Genesis ones -- but there are limits, yes? For instance, I know that you should never use a Genesis CDX with anything other than its own power supply, because other ones won't give it enough power.
D.Lo
Member
Yes, that's current (Amps).
Almost all systems have a voltage regulator to manage spikes and malfunctioning supplies, so while most are 9-11V They'll all likely be able to accept power supplied of between 8.5 and 12V, maybe more. 9-10 would be fine for all the systems.
Now the current draw is a maximum rating. So while the power supply may be 850mA to 1.2A, in practice most consoles will never draw anywhere near that. You'd have to power lots of external devices pulling power through extension ports and extra cartridge chips multitaps and controller ports to get near 1A. I think the Famicom uses like 200mA most of the time.
For a while I used a guitar pedal power supply on a Famicom, with 350mA current max, and it ran fine. At worst a low current rating will just cut power to the system when too much current is drawn (though it could damage the PSU itself).
So I wouldn't worry too much about current draw for anything over say 800mA, unless you're doing things particularly power hungry (like many adapters and controller etc).
MD2 power supply can power up the PCE.
D.Lo
Member
Many of them yes, I run a Duo RX with a MD2 power supply myself.
But I was just listing Nintendo and Sega consoles from those gens
Also a sega pico as well in case anyone ever needs to know.
A Black Falcon
Member
I imagine that's likely usually true, but apparently it isn't for the CDX, and you can mess the system up if you use a Genesis power supply... it needs more amperes than a Genesis power supply gives it -- the CDX power supply is 1.5A and apparently it actually needs it... http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=126747437&postcount=8407
Sorta Maximus
Member
ah I guess I will keep the SNES controllers after all. I honestly don't think I could get my money back. They will be good for a few things.
sixteen-bit
Member
I've been buying so many games on ebay from Japan...
Can't wait to get everything here
Anything in specific?
ColonelSkills
Member
It's strange. I've wanted an EVO cart for years and years, and finally snagged one for a good price, but once you realize what that price actually is, it really hits home just how bad the market is right now. Holy shit hats.